Oxygen and Potassium
by skwirelygurli
Summary: Austin tries to move on and date other people. Ally is more successful. Auslly.
1. Chapter 1

**Oxygen and Potassium, an Austin and Ally one-shot**

**I do not own Austin and Ally. This is for Violet Fier. Please enjoy and review!**

_If we're not going to be together it's only a matter of time before one of us meets someone else._

Someone could have warned him that 'a matter of time' was only going to be eighteen hours later. He would have came more prepared.

And no, he's not talking about wearing a poncho.

She'd been carrying a tray of smoothies, him the hotdogs, walking across the sand. A frisbee was flying, and a boy was running backwards to catch it. Then boom. Crash. Flying smoothies rained down, soaking her hair with strawberries.

"I am so sorry," he had said, wiping her eyes off with his thumb. She blinked, and his bright blue eyes came into focus.

"It's okay," she replied, squirming to get smoothie chunks out of her swim top. "I'll get some napkins."

"Allow me."

Drenched to the bone after one long shower, and she's giggling with him on her couch, like two young schoolgirls catching up.

But he's not a schoolgirl. He's a boy. A really attractive boy.

Wiping down with a towel, Austin finds his strokes getting rougher as his mood worsens. Everyone knows that you don't flirt with people that dump smoothies on you, accidentally or not.

He wasn't lying when he said he'd be jealous too.

"What's so funny?" Casually propping himself on the arm of her chair, he wipes the back of his neck.

"I was telling Ally a joke. So oxygen and potassium went on a date. And it was OK." They break into a fresh round of giggles.

Moving to the other side of his neck, he frowns. "I don't get it."

"K is the chemical symbol for potassium and-." His face drops. "Nevermind. I better get going. It was nice meeting you, Ally."

Nice? He dumped a smoothie on her head.

More like ice meeting her.

Did he just make a pun?

He's been hanging around Ally for too long.

"Nice meeting you too, Patrick."

"We should do this again sometime. The date part, I mean."

"I'd like that."

_(the heart breaks here)_

Day three, he walks into the store, placing a cupcake on the counter.

"For Miss Oxygen." At first a silly joke, now a testimony to how he finds her a breath of fresh air. They're perfect, the way they flirt, how his hand perfectly covers the small of her back.

"Thank you Master Potassium." Solely because of the joke. Because unlike the supplement, excesses of him don't cause low blood pressure and paralysis.

However, she does get tingles, and goes weak in the knees, and her heart adopts that irregular heartbeat. The one where it stops as he walks in, races as he gets closer.

Yeah, maybe potassium is more appropriate than she thinks.

"Would you like to accompany me to Shredders tonight? They're having a disco night, and we can get our groove on." He strikes a pose.

Hah, she'll never say yes. She can't dance.

"I'd love to."

Austin leans against the guitar display, careful not to knock it over, and nods to a girl. "Sup? I'm Austin."

Two can play at this game.

_(the heart breaks here)_

He wishes he was hydrogen. Then he'd be number one, and together they'd be OH. Like, 'oh, how did I not see how fantastic this could be sooner?'

He already knows the answer.

"See, you're not as bad as you thought you'd be." Patrick points to the sky, back down, back up.

"I have a great teacher."

Is that sharp pain from heartache or his partner's heel coming down on him?

Both.

"My bad. Again."

"It's okay. You did warn me that you can't dance." He takes a step to the left. It may be a step away from Ally, but it's a step away from his date, with the foot of doom.

"You'd be better for my friend. She loves to dance." Taking his hand, she leads him over to a girl who is busting a serious move.

He nods. Second times the charm, right?

_(the heart breaks here)_

Second time is not the charm. It's the time of utter boredom, swirling the straw around the smoothie glass in a effort to stay awake.

It's staring past her at Ally, constructing a sand castle with Patrick.

"Are you even paying attention to me?" She snaps her fingers in front of her face.

"Of course." His eyes dart to hers.

"Then what was I talking about?"

Absolutely nothing. She'd been blabbering on for the better have of an hour, and he'd tuned her out once she'd started talking about the difference between cotton candy and bubble gum pink nail polish.

A girl walks up to him, sliding him a piece of paper. "I couldn't help noticing your staring. Call me."

Wink.

She'd been lounging next to Ally and Patrick, watching him, watching her. The wrong her.

"We're done." His date storms off.

Life was a lot easier when they weren't dating other people.

_(the heart breaks here)_

He can catch the lovebug with ease, yet he can't catch a break to save his life.

Not that his life is in danger. Just his sanity.

"Ready to go gorgeous?" She misplaces her comma, and it sounds like she's asking him if he'd like to start being pretty. When she drags him to the salon, he wonders if it hadn't been misplaced after all.

"The salon?" he questions.

"I always start the day with a facial. It's good for your complexion." She pinches his cheek, directing her smile past his shoulder. He wants to turn around, but her grip on his face is too strong.

Austin feels ridiculous.

Though his skin does look smoother.

"I would like an ice cream. Would you like an ice cream? Let's go get ice cream." She grabs his wrist.

"You really want ice cream." He lets her drag him across the way to the ice cream cart.

"You're so funny," she says, laughing at an inappropriate volume. It doesn't make sense until they're at the stand, and she forces her fingers through his, beaming at the boy manning the cart.

With her flirting turned up to an eleven, she rubs their relationship in his face.

Austin is being used.

Ice cream cart boy is steaming with jealousy. It's a miracle that the ice cream in his hand hasn't melted yet.

Somehow he gets distracted with Ally passing by, and when he snaps back into the situation, he finds that his hand is empty. No ice cream, no girl.

There she is, making out with the other boy. He can see her tongue.

Another girl gets in line. "Get a room!"

"Yeah," Austin agrees. The couple separates. "But first, can I get my mint chocolate chip?"

_(the heart breaks here)_

Over ice cream, and the course of four days, he gets to know his new friend. She likes cherry ice cream and the color purple and tending towards people's needs.

He doesn't need a napkin for the ice cream on his lip. He doesn't need for her to wipe his seat down, no matter how high the germ count, nor for her to alert him that his shoe is untied.

Well, maybe that last one. But still. He can get things done on his own. He only has one need.

He needs Ally to stop flirting with Patrick.

"I don't think this is going to work out."

"Yes!"

That excited scream did not come from her. On her end there's a tear falling down her cheek, entreating him for an explanation. He tells her that she's too nice, tends to too many needs. She promises him she can change.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Patrick kiss Ally's cheek.

Maybe she can change. Maybe he can change too, from someone who is too far in love with his best friend to someone who can tolerate the fact that she has a new boyfriend.

"Don't change for me," he tells her. He leaves off the second part.

_My heart belongs to another._

_(the heart breaks here)_

He catches wind that they're going to be walking his dog the following morning, and he sets his alarm to make sure he's up. Today seems as good as any to start jogging.

Taking the opposite side of the road, he keeps an eye out for them. He spots her and slows down.

Craning his neck, he neglects to watch where he's going.

"Sister or crush?" A girl in short shorts pushes herself off the ground, wiping the dirt off.

"Huh?"

"The girl you're spying on." She readjusts her ponytail. Pulling out her earbuds, she puts him on the spot. "Don't deny it. It was totally obvious."

He smiles sheepishly. "Best friend."

"Been there."

"Really?"

"Let's walk and talk."

_(the heart breaks here)_

This girl is perfect. Plays video games, likes horror movies, knows how to make pizza from scratch. She promises to make him a pie, extra cheese like how he likes it.

She calls him in the morning and they jog the carbs off. She says she can't afford to gain weight.

He tells her she's perfect and shouldn't have to worry about those kinds of things. It's not a lie. This past month with her has been great.

There's just one problem.

His void is still lurking, refusing to be filled. It took some explaining from Trish to figure it out.

He doesn't want perfect.

He wants Ally. But she's on cloud nine with Patrick. One day there will be thunder and she'll fall, like a raindrop, like her tears, into his arms, and everything will be A-okay. Not J-okay, or K-okay, or LMNOP-okay, or anything-OK.

Definitely not OK.

A-okay.

A for Ally. Ally and not Patrick, because maybe means he can take it back. It's not time for them to meet other people.

It's time for him to tell her the truth.

"Run faster you slowpoke!"

Ally's eyes shoot across the street. Patrick waves, and he steps up his pace. A crack of lightning strikes through the sky.

Austin prays for thunder.


	2. Chapter 2

**Oxygen and Potassium, an encore**

**I do not own Austin and Ally. I was asked about doing a follow up, so here it is, as requested. Please enjoy and review.**

He can't hear the conversation over the sounds of his own breath. His frame isn't the only thing thinning. His patience is, overtime.

Cloud nine needs a change in weather.

"So you'll help me?" Dez asks, watching his friend drown half a bottle of water.

"Of course."

He finds out later that he's agreed to a double date that night. They're going to an Italian restaurant, and he knows that his girlfriend is going to make him pay for it in the morning, like last night's pizza binge, but he's his best friend. He has to help him out.

Even if it means sitting through a triple date with Ally and Patrick, because he had asked her to, just in case they didn't show up.

The tables are shoved together. So are their elbows.

Can big men make small talk?

The conversation has an awkward flow, and he asks Dez to scoot out so he can go to the bathroom. He makes a beeline for the door.

Fresh air hits his nostrils, and he tries to relax. This shouldn't be weird. Being friends with your friend's boyfriend is a completely normal thing to do.

Frenemies is more like it. Patrick is a nice guy and all, but he has the girl. The one who is still in the restaurant, laughing at his jokes over a plate of fettuccine. The one who is sitting next to his girlfriend, who is laughing just as hard, seemingly unphased by the absence of her boyfriend. It's been five minutes. Hasn't anyone thought to check on him?

He cuts behind a waiter and arrives back at the table. Taking his seat, he spears his ravioli.

"You missed it," Ally informs him. "Patrick said the funniest thing."

They retell it for him, and he surrenders a smile. He keeps it plastered on for another twenty minutes, and when the waitress circles around asking about dessert, he shakes his head.

"I have to get going to finish that song for tomorrow." Taking out his wallet, he pulls free a bill. "Ready?"

"I can help with that," Ally offers, grabbing for her purse.

"You don't have to. It's fine." He places the salt shaker on top of the money to keep it from flying off the table.

His girlfriend pushes her seat back. "I can take you home if you want to stay. Austin can take Ally. It'll be a date swap."

That's not even funny.

She says yes.

On the walk home, his hand bumps Ally's. This wouldn't have happened if he had been driving, with his fingers wrapped around the wheel, not hers.

'Let's walk to the restaurant, rev our metabolisms.'  
Why does he have to be dating a fitness freak?

She lets her hand linger next to his. Not intertwined, not fleeing. Touching.

Touching like when they're seated at the piano, and his hand accidentally glides over hers, like old times.

His thumb sinks into the key, disturbing the moment.

"It's late. I should get some sleep, or I'm not going to be able to jog in the morning."

"Are you sure?" Her doe eyes make him want to backtrack, stay that extra time, even if he falls asleep on the cement in the morning.

Heck, if he could backtrack, he'd go to that princess party, convince her not to move on.

He sure hasn't.

_(the heart breaks here)_

Austin convinces her to run on the other side of the street. A different view he promised her.

If she knew that he was only trying to run into Ally, she didn't say anything.

When he realizes that she too has swapped sides, for reasons unknown, he frowns. Hands on knees, he rests for a moment. Maybe this is fate's way of making him keep his distance. There's still this road between them, and chickens only cross roads in child jokes.

This is no joke. This is him stuck, because he's mentally snapped. This is her jogging back to him when he doesn't respond to her cries to speed up.

This is her, getting tackled by a dog.

"Ringo!" Patrick waits for a car, runs across.

Ally, abandoned, double checks for traffic and runs after him.

Hey, now they're on the same side of the road. Is that fate too, monkeying with him like he's a toy?

Screw fate. He's taking charge.

"I caught your little runaway," she says, handing him the leash.

"Thank you." He wraps her in a hug, and it lasts way too long. "She must have recognized you from last night."

"Last night?" Ally asks. She hadn't considered what had happened after they left the restaurant. She had assumed that they'd finished the meal and he dropped her home, end of story.

"We went to my house so she could see my new gaming system. This girl can play!"

"Psh," she blushes. Rubbing Ringo's head, she eggs him on. "I'm so going to beat you in our rematch tonight though."

If his girlfriend can hang out with her boyfriend, no strings attached, he can hang out with Ally without feeling guilty, right?

He's going to say right, even if he's wrong.

_(the heart breaks here)_

He sleeps through his alarm. Between finishing the new song, and the running, both on the streets and through the scenarios in his head while Jimmy listened to his new piece, he's exhausted. Grabbing a pair of shorts off the floor, he slips into them.

No new messages on his phone.

He runs out, heading in their usual direction. He spots Ally and Patrick across the street. There's a third body.

That's his girlfriend.

"What's going on?" he asks once he's made it across.

"You didn't show, so I asked Patrick if I could join his walk today." She doesn't ask if he wants to break off and run with her. She stays at his side, Ally lagging behind.

Ally does not look pleased.

He falls in step with her.

"They've been like this all morning." Her voice is laced with annoyance.

He swears he hears thunder, via cloud number nine.

Austin prays for rain.


End file.
